For decades, Jeff Foxworthy has kept audiences laughing with his stand-up comedy and shows like The Jeff Foxworthy Show, Blue Collar TV and Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? Now he's back on TV this summer, hosting What's It Worth?, premiering August 4 on A&E at 9pm EST. Foxworthy, a lifelong collector, brings the audience into the homes of dedicated hobbyists who have acquired some pretty unique and whacky treasures. Filmed virtually during quarantine earlier this summer, What’s It Worth? will have all of us reconsidering what hidden gems are lying in plain sight.
Here, Barnebys talks to Foxworthy about the collectibles we'll see on the show, what he loves to collect and how he's been spending his time during quarantine.
Barnebys: What are some of the highlights that viewers can look forward to learning about in What’s It Worth?
Jeff Foxworthy: There was some old artwork that people had just sitting around for decades that was actually from famous artists, like Picasso and Warhol, and really valuable. One of them, the wife wouldn’t even put it up in the bathroom because she thought it was so ugly, until she found out what it was. I would imagine now it’s in the living room over the mantle.
And then there were some that were just bizarre. One couple had contacted us because they had the newspaper announcing Lincoln’s assassination. As we’re talking to them about this newspaper, I’m looking in the background and over their shoulders there’s a taxidermist-mounted double-headed calf, and a coffin in the corner with a skeleton in it. So I’m like, "Before we ever talk about the newspaper, a: where do you find a double-headed calf head, b: what taxidermist is going to mount it for you?" And then we bring in the experts and find out that there’s actually a market for oddities like that. So there were a lot of things we were going through, and I’m like, "You’re kidding me! Really?"
The second-hand market is reviving today, especially attracting a younger demographic. Do you think the show will bring a new perspective on rediscovering vintage finds?
Oh, I think so. It was funny how much of this was generational. One lady had security jackets from Woodstock. I’ve seen the photos of Woodstock and I’m thinking, "Wait, they had security? Who knew?" Her mother and her aunt wanted to go to Woodstock, and the only way that their dad would let them go was if he could work security. There were only like 20 security guards for like half a million people in a cow field. But she had the jacket with the logo, the top of the guitar with the dove sitting on it and they were in immaculate shape.
Our experts had researched her grandfather, and they were like, "Man your grandfather was a remarkable guy." She got as emotional hearing about her grandfather as she did learning about the jackets and what they were worth. And her daughter was with them, so now you’re talking about the fourth generation hearing these stories of something that had been in the family.
I mean obviously it’s about the object and what the object is worth, but there’s two values. There’s what it’s worth to somebody else, and then there’s what it’s worth to you. And in some cases there wasn’t an emotional attachment, but in some cases there was. The fact that they’ve been passed down through the family for years and years made the monetary value of it irrelevant.
What types of items have you collected?
I’ve kind of collected stuff my entire life. When I was kid I was a big baseball fan. If I was doing The Tonight Show, or if I was hosting an awards show, I would take baseballs and just get people to sign them. Now I have individual baseballs signed by Johnny Carson, Bob Hope, Red Skelton, Milton Berle, Richard Pryor, George Carlin, etc. I’ve got all these rock ’n’ roll singers.
I also love old Native American artifacts, so I look for arrowheads everywhere I go, all over the country. And I’ve found some really cool stuff like stone pipes and axes and pretty amazing arrowheads. In fact, when we were filming the show, I had some of them in a case and one of the appraisers said, "What is on the bookshelf there?" They wanted to look at them, and they actually appraised them for me. And I was kind of shocked at what they were worth, but I’m like, "Well, I dug these out of the ground, so I’m not selling these."
What are some of the stories behind your baseball collection?
I had a baseball at an event and Pete Rose was there, and I got him to sign it. Then I had to fly to another event in Nashville, and Charlie Daniels was there, and I thought, "Oh crap, I don’t have a new baseball, but I’ve got the Pete Rose baseball." So I had Charlie sign the other side of it. So I’m sure I have the only Pete Rose-Charlie Daniels baseball on the planet. So you’ve got to think that somewhere down the road that’s going to be worth something. Who knows.
We just moved, so I was cleaning out stuff and I found a baseball that was signed by Bill Monroe, Charlie Daniels, Loretta Lynn, Porter Wagoner, Johnny Cash, and Joe Diffie, all on one baseball. And I’m thinking, "This has got to be the only one in the world like this."
One night I threw out the first pitch for the Braves during the playoffs, and they said, "Stay over here, they’re going to do the national anthem, then you can go back to your seat," and as I’m standing there I look over and Jimmy Carter is seated on the front row. So I had the ball that I had just thrown out for the first pitch, and I turned around and said "Mr. President would you sign this?" He wrote “To Jeff. Great first pitch. Jimmy Carter." Well that’s a little personal thing, but it’s a great memory of that night. And it’s one of those collectibles that has a story behind it.
What was your favorite part of filming the show?
I like people. When you’re a comedian, people will tell you things that they probably wouldn’t tell their therapist. They share things with you. So, I like to see what you’ve found, but I also want to know your story. How did you get it? What’s going on in your house? It’s kind of like when I hosted Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? I wanted it to be fun, too, not just a learning thing. I think we’ve done that with this. We've got 10 upcoming episodes right now just doing it virtually.
I had never seen a show where people are filming with their cellphones in their own homes. In the beginning, I was like "Is this going to work?" But it worked so much better than I thought and ended up being really fun. We could walk (virtually) into somebody's house and go "Where are you keeping this thing you found?" 80% of the people kept it in the sock drawer, and I’m like, "Are you kidding me? That’s first day of burglar school, look in the sock drawer. You gotta come up with something better than that." It was kind of fun to see how people lived.
What have you been up to during quarantine?
I’ve invented another game! I invented a game last year that was the top-selling game on Amazon called Relative Insanity. I wrote 100 setups about relatives and then 500 punch lines. Somebody reads the set up and then everybody throws down a punchline to see what gets the biggest laugh. And so I just did a new one that’s coming out next week that’s called See What I Mean? And I wrote 900 punchlines to go with pictures, so you hold up the picture and then everybody goes through their punchlines to try to find the funniest one. Lord knows we need a little laughter right now, especially this year.
Is there a secret to comedy?
I have the only job where you don’t get any better at it after 30 years. After 35 years, I still don’t know what the audience is going to laugh at. So that’s why I still go to little clubs and try out new stuff. I mean, if you laid carpet for 30 years, you would know, "Hey this works and this doesn’t work." But with comedy, I always say the audience is alway right. They’ll tell you what’s funny and what’s not. Sometimes I’m like, "Really? That’s funny?" Other times I’m like "Really? That’s not funny?" But I still love it. I’m blessed to do something for that long and still love doing it.
“What’s It Worth?” premieres Tuesday, August 4 at 9pm ET/PT on A&E.
